NEWS > EVERYONE ELSE > ABU GHARIB PHOTOS SHOW RAPE AND ABUSE MUCH LIKE U.S. PRISONS

ABU GHARIB PHOTOS SHOW RAPE AND ABUSE MUCH LIKE U.S. PRISONS

May 29 2009

Baghdad, Iraq – Of all the traumas the world has endured since the 9/11 few have the same kind of raw power and level of shame associated with them as the abuses at Abu Gharib prison. The photos and videos provoked more spin than any other event in the Iraq or Afghan wars and became a lightning rod for critics of the conflicts and of
the Bush administration as a whole. Now as new photos begin to surface a new administration is learning the harsh lessons that prison can deliver.

With the revelation of new pictures depicting rape and other forms of sexual assault President Obama is now tasked with one more, this one potentially explosive, the new administration is once again in the position of having to clean up someone else’s mess. The newest revelations though are very similar to those in the past and reveal one truth above all else about the mess in Iraqi prisons, that the biggest obstacle to preventing uproar is to limit the number of cameras available.

“Life in prison is tough no matter where you serve your time and unfortunately things
like violence and rape are very common. Whether you are in prison in Baghdad or Wyoming abuses are going to happen as they have happened throughout the history of imprisonment. It’s very difficult to prevent these kinds of incidents and so the logical solution is to simply prevent exposure,” said Scrape TV Crime analyst Willard Weston. “It’s far easier to answer to people when they aren’t asking questions and if you don’t give them any reason to suspect that something illicit is going on you are ten steps ahead already. That was the major failing with Abu Gharib. Allowing cameras inside prison walls put them in very tough position.”

U.S. prisons have strict procedures on what can and cannot be taken inside, procedures which were intermittently enforced at Abu Gharib, a procedural failure many have pointed to as the principle reason for the outrage.

“The American penal system has perfected to process like no other country. With more people in prison in the U.S. both on a per capita basis and in sheer numbers so you can say that they have a little experience with making this thing work. Abu Gharib is either a product of poor planning or an outsourcing to contractors who simply aren’t used to making prisons work,” continued Weston. “Many of the prisons in the U.S. are run by private companies. They are the essence of the capitalist system but Abu Gharib was a government built institution, likely hamstrung by the typical kind of government red tape that simply put, let cameras inside. Cameras create abuse.”

American movies have often depicted the violence behind prison bars. Films such as ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ have shown an unflinching view of the violence committed by prisoners and guards though none have shown the degree of violence and humiliation shown in the photos from Abu Gharib.

“There is no doubt an element of showboating for the cameras which has created
some of the more iconic pictures that have leaked but the truth is prison life is tough and it’s likely some of these things would have gone on whether they were taking photos or not,” continued Weston. “There’s no doubt that the Bush administration learned a lot from this situation and Obama will likely learn the same lessons. No matter what else happens in Iraq or Afghanistan as long as you keep cameras out of the mix you can prevent abuses from happening.”

Because of pending criminal cases it’s unlikely that any of the soldiers depicted in the photographs will have a career in the film industry either as onscreen performers or behind-the-scenes consultants.   

Emil Uliya, International Correspondent

NEWS > EVERYONE ELSE > ABU GHARIB PHOTOS SHOW RAPE AND ABUSE MUCH LIKE U.S. PRISONS